Bon bons and chocolate eclairs end up in the same section of every pick 'n' mix wall, get bought by the same people for the same jar, and are routinely used as if they're interchangeable. They're not. One is a boiled sweet with a soft centre; the other is a chewy toffee with a chocolate one. Here's what actually separates them.
Bon bons: boiled shell, fondant centre
The word comes from the French bon — "good" — first used in the French royal court in the seventeenth century, and it's stayed close to its original meaning of "a nice little sweet" ever since. British sweet shops adopted the format in the Victorian era and gave it a distinctly British identity: a hard, boiled-sugar shell around a soft fondant centre, most commonly fruit-flavoured rather than plain chocolate.
The texture is the giveaway. Bite in and the shell cracks like any boiled sweet, then softens into a chewy, almost toffee-like fondant as you work through it. Ours come in Strawberry, Blue Raspberry and Toffee, plus Bonds Blue Raspberry and Bonds Lemon in jar format.
Chocolate eclairs: chewy toffee, chocolate centre
Confusingly named after the pastry, chocolate eclair sweets are toffee through and through — a smooth, chewy caramel shell wrapped around a genuine milk chocolate cream filling. There's no boiled-sugar crack to it; the whole sweet has a soft, pulling chew from the first bite, with the chocolate centre becoming more pronounced as you get further in.
Werther's popularised the format under its Original branding, built on the same butter-and-cream caramel recipe the brand is known for elsewhere in its range. We stock Bonds Chocolate Eclairs and Werther's Original Soft Eclairs.
Side by side
- Shell: bon bons — hard boiled sugar. Eclairs — chewy toffee, no hard crack.
- Centre: bon bons — soft fruit or toffee fondant. Eclairs — milk chocolate cream.
- Flavour direction: bon bons lean fruity (strawberry, blue raspberry) alongside a toffee option. Eclairs lean caramel-and-chocolate throughout.
- Origin: bon bons — French royal court, seventeenth century, Anglicised by Victorian sweet shops. Eclairs — German toffee-making tradition, popularised in the UK by Werther's.
How to buy either
Both are sold loose by weight in traditional sweet shops, which is why they end up compared so often — same shelf, same jar format, same 20p-a-quarter era of buying sweets. We stock both in bulk bag and jar formats rather than loose, for the same jar-filling or party-bag use.
Frequently asked questions
What's the actual difference between bon bons and chocolate eclairs?
Bon bons are a hard-shelled boiled sweet with a soft fondant centre. Chocolate eclairs are a chewy toffee sweet with a chocolate centre. Different shell, different filling.
Are bon bons technically a boiled sweet?
Yes — the shell is boiled sugar, which is what gives it the initial hard bite before it softens.
Do chocolate eclairs contain real chocolate?
Yes, a genuine chocolate cream centre inside a chewy caramel shell.
Which bon bon and eclair flavours do you stock?
Bon bons in strawberry, blue raspberry and toffee. Eclairs in classic chocolate and Werther's Original.